Mysterious Affairs
by inheritancedrottningu
Summary: Spans from the Battle of Hogwarts through to the next generations attendance at Hogwarts. Will feature the return of many beloved characters who were lost in canon. Picks up with Albus Severus starting at Hogwarts. Some timeline changes.
1. Department of Mysteries

A/N: The timeline is slightly different than canon, all of the next generation being born 3 or so years earlier than canon (except Teddy), as such, Teddy is closer in age to the others.

 **Mysterious Affairs**

Midnight August 31st 2013

The chamber was bathed in a soft light, though if one were to look for the source they would not find one. The door into the room was high on one wall, access to it granted by the circular stone benches which circled the room, descending like stairs on all sides. In the centre of the room stood an archway which appeared to be full of moving shadows. Some who entered the room swore they could hear voices whispering from inside of it.

Halfway up the room, a man in a long brown trench coat was asleep, hunched over in a way that couldn't have been very comfortable. The man jolted awake as the room went dark suddenly, as if someone had set off Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder, though he was the only one there.

The man scrambled to find the wand that had fallen from his hand at some point, his hands fumbling around him in the dark uselessly. Why did this have to happen on my watch? He thought to himself grumpily. The arch had been dormant for over a decade.

The room was only dark for a few moments before bright orbs of light began emitting from the shadowy archway. The room now illuminated slightly, the man snatched his wand from the ground and muttered something unintelligibly. A bright silver shape emerged from the tip and sailed quickly from the room.

Wand raised in front of him, the man climbed further into the room, approaching the arch cautiously and hoping that backup would arrive soon. He hated this part. Back in the old days they would have had half a dozen of his order on guard, but with no developments in so long they'd relaxed security.

He was in luck; the door burst open above him and a witch with short bubble-gum pink hair entered, wearing the same brown cloak as he was. She too had her wand drawn.

"Are you it?" The man grumbled.

"Yep," the woman told him, descending the steps. "You do realize it's the middle of the night don't you?" she questioned. "Everyone else left hours ago."

The first man muttered darkly under his breath. "Where's Weasley? He's on night shift tonight too isn't he?"

She raised her eyebrows and looked at him. "He's responding to a disturbance," she replied, tripping over her own feet and righting herself hurriedly.

The man rolled his eyes at her when she wasn't looking. How she'd qualified, he had no idea.

The door opened again and a dark-skinned man entered quickly, drawing his wand. He was wearing robes of a deep blue and was conspicuous in the absence of a brown coat.

"Kingsley," the witch called excitedly.

"Tonks," he nodded to her, smiling knowingly as she dusted herself off.

"Minister," the other man greeted the newcomer, inclining his head respectfully.

Kingsley nodded shortly in acknowledgement, now accompanying the witch down the rest of the stairs, the arm not holding his wand ready to assist her should she fall again.

"Here we go," said the witch, raising her arm to shield her eyes as a blinding light flooded the room. Kingsley raised his own arm simultaneously but the other wizard wasn't quick enough, and cursed loudly as he retreated back into the room, blinded.

Two figures appeared in the arch and the light disappeared. The newcomers stepped from the arch as the room's natural lighting returned. They were a man and a woman, he with messy black hair and she with long red hair. Kingsley and Tonks glanced at each other, recognition mirrored on each of their faces. They smiled, turning back to the people, as their colleague re-joined them.

"You are uh," the wizard began, uncertain. "Can you confirm your identities?" He tried again.

The pair looked at each other, the man stepping forward slightly to place himself between the woman and the strangers who surrounded them.

"Why? What's it to you?" He asked them defensively.

"Where's our-," the woman began to ask, but was stopped when the man shook his head slightly.

"We don't know who these people are," he warned her quickly.

This was not going very well, Tonks thought as she watched the scene unfold before her. From what she knew of the man he was probably only moments away from transforming himself and taking them all on.

He was in all likelihood still under the impression that You Know Who and his army of Death Eaters were trying to kill him and his family. Such a move on his part would not end well for any of them. She really needed to teach her colleague some tact when it came to handling these situations. Though apparently, he didn't know who they were. Sighing she stepped forward to intervene.

"Does the name ' _Prongs_ ' mean anything to you?" she asked them.

The man frowned at her, "Who are you?"

Maintaining eye contact with the man, the witch put her wand away and stepped forward slightly. "My name is Nymphadora Lupin, I am married to Moony," she paused to let that sink in before continuing "and I am a member of the Order of the Phoenix." Her words had the desired effect; he'd dropped his defensive stance and allowed the woman to draw level with him again. "Voldemort is dead," she explained, impressed when neither of them flinched from the name, "and you have nothing to fear."

"Who are they?" he asked her, indicating the other two men.

"My name is Kingsley Shacklebolt," the man answered, "I am a member of the Order of the Phoenix, and I am the Minister for Magic," he continued, knowing well which of those references would hold the most sway with them. "This is one of the Ministry's Aurors," Kingsley added, inclining his head to the other wizard, "As is Nymphadora."

"Who are they?" The Auror whispered quietly to Tonks. She looked at him briefly, then back at the others.

"Can you confirm for the record that you are Lily and James Potter?" Tonks asked them, with a pointed look at the Auror beside her who shrank back, eyes on the ground.


	2. Surprises

**Surprises**

12.01AM September 1st:

"Yes, yes we are," the woman replied immediately, a hand on her husband's arm reassuringly.

Tonks nodded and turned to Kingsley, "I can handle this one," she told him.

"I'm the one on duty," the other man complained from behind her. "I'll do it."

"No," Kingsley said shortly. "You will remain here for the duration of your watch. Tonks," he nodded to her, "you've got them."

She nodded her thanks, turning back to Lily and James.

"You were going to ask about Harry?" Tonks guessed.

Lily nodded, "where is he? Is he okay?"

Tonks smiled at her broadly, "he's fine, though I don't know where he is right now," she glanced down at her watch. Office hours were well over and he wasn't on night shift so he'd probably have gone home. She didn't tell them this though, after all, the son they knew was but a baby. "I'm going to draw my wand again so I can send a message to Remus, alright?" she waited for them to agree before she did so.

She summoned her patronus, a wolf, and sent it bounding through the wall to her right.

"If you come with me I'll find out where Harry is and take you to him," she moved to the door as she spoke and smiled as they followed her immediately. "We're inside the Ministry of Magic, and I'm not allowed to apparate with you while we're here," she shot a glare at Kingsley over her shoulder, who laughed and muttered about security, "so we'll have to leave on foot," she explained. She led them up the stairs carefully, a stubbed toe the only casualty this time, then through the door, Kingsley accompanying them.

They emerged in a circular room full of identical doors. "Exit," she announced loudly to the room, once the door closed behind them. Immediately the doors spun around them, or perhaps it was them spinning, it was hard to be sure. When things stopped moving they were again facing a room full of unmarked doors.

Without hesitating Tonks strode to the door directly in front of them and pushed it open, holding it for them to follow.

They followed her from the room down a corridor and up a flight of stairs before coming to a stop before a bank of elevators. They had only just come to a stop when an elevator arrived, the doors opening and a wizard with flaming red hair burst onto the landing in a hurry, stopping short when he spotted Tonks. "It's happened then?" he asked her, stepping back into the elevator, automatically putting a hand out to steady her as she inevitably tripped her way inside. He froze when he caught sight of the people who entered behind her, their presence answering his question. He stood speechless, his mouth dropping open, as his best friend's dead parents stepped onto the elevator, very much alive, the doors closing behind them.

Tonks smiled gratefully as she regained her balance.

"Lily and James Potter, this is Ron Weasley, another Auror," Tonks informed them, refraining from laughing as Ron's mouth closed suddenly. He waved at them feebly.

Lily and James were watching him curiously.

"You've encountered this before," Tonks stated, eyeing him.

"This is different," he muttered weakly. "Are they really?" he gestured at them hopelessly.

"Yep," Tonks beamed at him. "It's great, isn't it?"

She didn't add the _after all this time_ , yet he heard it as clearly as if she had.

"Brilliant," he said, regaining his voice.

"Does that mean?" he asked, not needing to finish for her to know what he meant. He was asking about the people who were lost in the first war. "Is it starting again?"

Kingsley was the one who responded, "We cannot know. We will have to wait and see."

"Do they know?" Ron asked Tonks nodding at the pair.

"No, I thought that might be better coming from Remus or Sirius," Tonks replied.

"You know Sirius as well?" James asked her.

"He's my cousin," Tonks replied. "On the good side of the family," she clarified when James looked alarmed. He relaxed slightly, nodding.

The elevator came to a stop, announcing their arrival in the atrium. The doors opened to a large room, now completely empty given the early hour.

Tonks got out of the elevator, Lily and James following her.

"You're going to the house?" Ron asked Tonks, putting his arm out to stop the door closing.

Tonks nodded, "Yeah, we're going to go see Harry."

"Tell them Hermione and I will be there in a few hours before you leave."

She nodded her assent and made to go before Kingsley's arm replaced Ron's in the elevator doors.

"Let him know I'll see to added security on the arch until he returns to work," Kingsley requested. "And he doesn't need to come in at all tomorrow if he prefers," he added. "Today, that is," he clarified, looking at his watch.

"I'll let him know," Tonks responded, waving at them as the doors closed.

They turned away from the elevators and headed across the room. Everything was still until suddenly a fire place on the far side of the room filled with brilliant green flames from which a figure emerged.

Tonks watched as her husband and James crossed the room to each other, embracing when they got there. They separated and Remus turned to hug Lily, who had by then caught up to them.

"Remus, what the hell is going on? When did you get married?" James asked, as his wife and friend separated. "Are you okay? You're looking rather," he hesitated.

"Old?" Remus asked, laughing when James shrugged his shoulders in response.

"Yeah, well it's not 1981 anymore," Remus told them.

"What do you mean? What year is it?" Lily asked. When Remus didn't answer her immediately, she looked at Tonks.

Tonks merely looked at Remus. When he looked at her, she smiled encouragingly, taking his hand in hers and squeezing softly. He nodded to her, before looking back to his friends.

"You died," Remus told his friends, "On the night of the 31 of October 1981. You were murdered by Voldemort."

Lily gasped softly, James merely frowned, as though trying to remember dying.

"What about Harry?" Lily asked.

"You said he's alive?" James said, looking at Tonks who nodded reassuringly.

"Harry survived the attack," Remus told them.

"How?" Lily asked, "He was just a baby."

"Dumbledore figured that out, but not for many years," Remus said quietly.

"Years?" James queried, staring at his friend, stopping Remus from explaining.

"That was thirty-two years ago," Remus told them, as gently as he could. "It's 2013."

James blinked at him, stunned.

"32 years?" Lily whispered. "So Harry…?"

Lupin nodded, "is not the baby you remember."

"He's grown up," Lily said quietly, again Lupin nodded.

"I know how hard this is," Remus told them, "We went through similar," he wrapped his arm around Tonks, "though we only lost three years."

"You died as well?" James asked him and Remus inclined his head.

"In the final battle against Voldemort," Remus answered. "Sirius died also, two years earlier, and he came through the arch shortly after us."

"How is this possible?" Lily asked.

Lupin looked at Tonks to explain. "No one knows," she said. "That room, the Death Chamber, is part of the Department of Mysteries. No one, not the Aurors, not the Unspeakables, has been able to figure it out. The arch is the boundary between life and death, but it's only ever been one way."

"Sirius was killed when he fell through it," Lupin added.

"It started a few years after Voldemort was defeated for good, about 15 years ago. All of a sudden people just started coming back through, one or two at a time in mostly reverse order of death. No one has come through in the last five years though. Except you."

"We want to see Harry," James said.

Lupin and Tonks looked at each other, seemingly having a silent conversation.

"None of the others have had any issues," Tonks said.

"And there's only a few more hours until the train leaves," Lupin continued.

"What's happening?" James asked, watching their exchange with a mix of amusement and confusion.

"The Ministry requires that everyone who comes through the arch go straight to St Mungo's to be checked out," Tonks explained. "They're worried about complications and also looking for residual magic."

"But, we're thinking you should see Harry first and you can do that later," Remus said.

"I'm not disagreeing, in fact I completely agree with you – but won't you get in trouble from that Kingsley?"

"If anyone it'd be from my supervisor, but somehow I don't think he'll have any objections," she and Remus glanced at each other again.

"No, I wouldn't think so either."

"Then what are we waiting for?" James asked them brightly. "How are we getting wherever it is we're going?"

"We'll use the Floo network," Remus said, leading them to the wall of fireplaces. "As you two don't have wands it's probably safer if you come with me," he nodded to James, "And Lily goes with Dora, just in case anything happens. The address is 12 Grimmauld Place, here in London."

"Isn't that Sirius' family's house?" James asked warily.

"It was," Remus answered, "Sirius inherited it before he died and then left it to Harry. He didn't want it back after he returned so Harry kept it."

Hesitating as he took a handful of floo powder, Remus turned to his friends. "I want to leave as much as possible for Harry to explain, but you ought to know before we get there," Remus paused, "Harry is married with children."

Lily and James looked at each other and smiled, nodding to Remus.

"We understand."

"We're ready."

"Also we're probably about to walk into a war zone," Tonks smirked.

James looked at Remus for an explanation. "It's September 1st," he said, by way of explanation. "So prepare yourselves for utter chaos."

"It isn't exactly a quiet household normally," Tonks added under her breath.

"Ours is just as bad," Remus pointed out.

"Exactly," she replied, a mischievous twinkle in her eyes as she wagged her eyebrows at them.

With that Remus and James stepped into the fireplace as the same green flames from earlier returned. A moment later they were gone and Tonks and Lily were following.


	3. An Army of Children

A/N: By my count there are 13 children in the house when Remus, Tonks, James and Lily arrived:

Edward Remus Lupin (Teddy) 15; Andromeda Hope Lupin (Andy) 11; Alastor Lyall Lupin (Alice) 9; Charlotte Tonks Lupin (Charlie) 3; James Sirius Potter 13; Albus Severus Potter 11; Lily Luna Potter 9; Ruby Ginevra Potter 7; Rose; Hugo; Victoire; Dominique; Louis

* * *

 **An Army of Children**

When Remus and James emerged from the fireplace they found they had indeed arrived in chaos. They were at the end of a long kitchen with a high table which ran the length of the room. Everywhere they looked there were children in various states of dress, all apparently rushing to finish breakfast as plates of food flew around the room.

Tonks ducked to avoid a plate of waffles which zoomed over her head, and Lily jumped backwards as a purple cat streaked past at lightning speed. Tonks laughed, watching as the cat chased a small Labrador with bright green fur. The dog was making off with what appeared to be a child's shoe. They disappeared under the table and Tonks looked at Remus.

"What do you reckon?" Tonks asked.

"She'll catch him," Remus responded, shaking his head in exasperation.

"Not a chance," Tonks replied smiling merrily.

"Have you seen how fast she is?"

"Have you seen how fast he is?" she retorted.

"When he's not running into things," Remus muttered.

"When she's not tripping on her own feet," Tonks shot back.

"Where do you think she gets it from?" Remus asked her to which Tonks stuck her tongue out at him.

While they debated, James attempted to count the children. It wasn't easy, they were moving and new ones kept appearing out of nowhere, but by his best count there were at least six or seven of them, most of whom looked to be a few years either side of 10.

There was a boy who, James thought, had his hair, and who was mercilessly tickling a small red headed girl who was laughing and trying to escape his reach. An older red headed girl came up behind her and joined in momentarily as she took her seat at the table. The girl squealed, jolting away from her and ending up back in the boy's reach. The older girl laughed, watching them.

Another child appeared, apparently from under the table, sporting hair the same colour as the dogs fur, leading James to believe they had fallen victim to the same mischief; probably at the hands of one of the other children, from what he was seeing.

There were definitely more than seven children here, James thought.

"They're at it again," Remus stated, sounding both amused and defeated, and prompting a laugh from Tonks.

James followed his friend's gaze in time to see a blue haired boy and a strawberry blond girl, both appeared to be teenagers, appear out of what James took to be a large pantry attached to the kitchen.

"Leave them alone!" Tonks said, swatting Remus' arm playfully.

A young boy with dark messy hair ran past them with only one shoe on, evidently searching for the shoe that the dog had disappeared with.

"Exactly how many children does Harry have?" James asked, still watching the room.

Remus laughed, "Don't worry, only four of them are his."

"Though I only see three of them," Tonks added.

Remus raised his arm and attempted to point them out but right at that moment two things happened; first, a child with short spiky purple hair launched herself at Remus with an ecstatic cry of "Daddy!"

"Daddy?!" James exclaimed. "Why didn't you say so?"

Remus didn't get a chance to answer as at the same moment one of the other children apparently let off some fireworks with a deafening bang that resounded through the room. The children scattered and ducked as the fireworks cartwheeled through the room, knocking plates out of the air as they went.

The little girl with red hair screamed as one of the crackers flew too close to her head and her hair caught on fire.

A second child, the small pyjama clad boy with green hair, ran at Remus and wrapped his arms around his father's legs, preventing him from moving. A little girl, much younger than the others, with a head of hair the same colour as Tonks' was right behind the boy. She held her arms out and Remus scooped her up.

Stepping around James and Remus, wand drawn, Tonks began forging her way through the room ducking fireworks and waving her wand at the on fire girl as she went and extinguishing her hair with a water charm. Before she could reach her however, the girl had launched herself at the older boy, probably the culprit, and appeared to be trying to strangle him, though going by his laughter she didn't seem to be having much luck.

"Don't say we didn't warn you," Remus muttered still covered in children. As they watched a brunette boy about the same age as the younger red headed girl ran at the laughing dark haired boy from behind to join the fray. Another strawberry blonde girl, younger than the one who'd been with the blue haired boy but who could have been her sister, primly dressed in a Hogwarts uniform, hair neatly curled, was right behind him and quickly pulled him off, wrestling him backwards.

Tonks was still trying to get to them, but her progress had been halted first by the appearance of an annoyed creature with odd pointy ears who was yelling at the mess that was now the kitchen and second by the girl restraining the still wildly struggling boy.

The boy grabbed a jug of something from the table, which he promptly upended in the girl's face. She let him go with a shriek, now covered in what looked like maple syrup, and ran from the room. The boy didn't waste a second, grabbing handfuls of scrambled eggs which he launched across the room.

The watching adults could only assume he was aiming for the laughing boy and had missed, getting the little red headed girl instead. A loud crack sounded through the kitchen as the pointy eared house elf disappeared, evidently having decided that the madness of the kitchen wasn't worth it.

Another child, a strawberry blonde boy, younger than all of the others, lobbed some kind of pastry at the brunette boy and with much better aim. The pastry caught the boy in the face, evidently having contained cream or some such which left the boy with a substantial white beard. The boy retaliated by throwing a plate full of waffles at the other smaller boy, who ducked and lobbed a handful of baked beans back at him, hitting his target.

Tonks finally reached the bearded fighting boy and seized his arm as he prepared for attempt number three. She pinned both his arms to his sides. The older strawberry blond girl appeared by the blond boy and did the same.

Outraged, the purple haired girl at Remus' side made to join in but wasn't quick enough. Remus wrapped an arm around her waist and held her to him. "Nice try, young lady."

Distracted by his still struggling daughter and with his other arm full of the pink haired child, he wasn't able to stop the green haired boy, who streaked past his father. The small boy only made it far as his mother however, who grabbed him by the scruff of his pyjamas and pulled him to her.

"The two who are trying to kill each other are Harry's first and third born, and the one shoe'd boy who is somewhere around here is the second child." As he spoke the one shoe'd boy appeared from under the far end of the table and made for the stairs. "The youngest doesn't appear to be here."

"How old are they?" James asked.

"Thirteen, eleven, nine and seven," Remus answered. "Those two being the thirteen and nine year olds."

"How many of them are yours?" Lily asked, trying not to laugh at the scene. The blue haired boy from the pantry was now attempting to pull the red headed girl from the older boy. He hesitated when he was hit in the face with scrambled eggs, thrown by the green haired boy, who was evidently taking advantage of his free arms.

"Four, including these two," he nodded at them. "You can tell them by the hair. This is Andromeda," he nodded at the purple haired girl standing at her father's side. He quickly corrected himself when she looked up to glare at him, her hair almost unnoticeably turning slightly red at the roots, "she goes by Andy, she's eleven," the girl squinted her eyes at him for a few more seconds before deciding to forgive the use of her full name.

"Dad this isn't fair!" she complained, pinned to his side, watching as the green haired boy lobbed handfuls of everything in reach at anyone he could. He didn't appear to have a particular side but he did have excellent aim.

Ignoring her, "Alastor, Alice, is the green one, he's nine," Remus continued, nodding at the green haired boy who was now frisbee'ing toast at people. "This is Charlotte," he bounced the pink haired girl on his hip slightly, causing her to giggle. "How old are you Charlie?"

"I'm three," the little girl grinned at them, holding up three fingers.

"Very good," Remus smiled at her. "Teddy is the blue haired one trying to pull those two apart, he's fifteen."

"Teddy?" Lily asked.

"Edward," Remus inclined his head as he answered.

The blue haired boy had now successfully wrested the red head from her brother, who stuck his tongue out at her resulting in her kicking her legs out at him while the blue haired boy unintentionally suspended her in the air.

"The others are cousins, I believe there are five of them present," Remus added.

A pale red headed woman appeared from the stairs and stopped short at what she saw, leaning against the wall somewhat. They could just make out the one shoe'd boy behind her, peering out cautiously.

The older boy's tongue disappeared back in his mouth and the girl stopped struggling the moment they saw her. The blue haired boy lowered the girl back to the ground when she stopped fighting.

"What is going on?" The woman questioned.

"She attacked me!" The boy answered. "At least I think that's what she was trying to do. She wasn't doing a very good job," he sniggered at her.

The girl growled and ran at him again.

"Lily Luna Potter get off him right now!" The red headed woman ordered her, entering the room properly. The one shoe'd boy remained in the shadow of the doorway.

When the girl (Lily) didn't do as she'd been told, the woman waved her newly drawn wand and the two siblings shot apart to opposite sides of the room where they remained pinned by magic.

"He started it! He set my hair on fire!" the girl exclaimed.

"It didn't hurt her! They were Fred and George's no heat fireworks!"

"They still burnt my hair, look!" Sure enough, she had a lock of singed hair.

"But they didn't hurt you," the boy retorted.

"Enough! Both of you! James, apologize to Lily right now," she told him.

"Mum! She attacked me!" James complained.

"He named his kids after us?" Adult Lily asked Remus quietly.

"He loves you," Remus said, "even if he's never known you. He wanted to honour your memory."

"The woman is their mother then?" James asked, still remaining quiet.

"Yes, that's Ginny, formerly a Weasley," Remus said, nodding as another figure appeared from the stairs. He was tall with dark hair and glasses, and looked almost identical to his father who was, unbeknownst to him, watching the scene from the other end of the room.

"Harry!" Lily whispered, her hand reaching out of its own accord despite the distance between them.

Harry entered the room with the one shoe'd boy attached to his arm, and a new child peering out from behind his legs.

"That would be the youngest behind him," Remus informed them.

The one shoe'd boy was staring curiously down the far end of the room at the adults he'd never met but who he'd seen in photos, the girl taking in everything silently from her position behind her father.

Lily smiled at the boy and his eyes widened before he turned and buried himself against his father who wrapped an arm around his shoulders, too focused on his other two children to have noticed what the boy was reacting to.

Harry wrapped his other arm around his older daughter and knelt down to her height as his wife moved to their older son. For the first time the onlookers had a good view of the new girl, a small child who looked closer to five, maybe six, than seven, with dark red hair.

"You said she was seven?" Lily asked Remus who nodded.

"She is, just small for her age," he explained.

Meanwhile, Tonks maneuvered the brunette boy to the doorway and sent him up the stairs. She turned and looked at her blue haired son and nodded to the stairs again. He went without complaint, the oldest strawberry blond girl followed, dragging her little brother with her. Tonks turned and headed back to her husband and her two would-be troublemakers.

Tonks looked at her son, "Can I trust you to go upstairs and get dressed?" She asked the boy who was in pyjamas. He nodded, looking bashful. "Alright," Tonks said releasing him. The boy was true to his word, hugging his mother quickly before continuing up the stairs, impeded only briefly when he ran into the doorframe.

"Is he ok?" Lily asked concerned.

"He's fine, he does it all the time," Remus replied, shaking his head in exasperation.

"What about me?" Andy asked, looking at her father and grinning up at him. "Can I go to?" He recognized her mother's mischievous twinkle in her eye and his decision was made for him. "I don't think so," Remus told her, eyebrows raised.

James chuckled slightly from beside Remus as he watched the exchange. "Good call," he muttered.

"Well that was certainly interesting," Tonks said having reached them. She was positively beaming, and seemed to be resisting the urge to laugh. "Everybody still alive down here?" she joked, putting her hands on her older daughter's shoulders and glaring at her. It was softened somewhat by the look in her eyes which mirrored her daughter's. "Are you all packed?" she asked. The girl her shook her head no. Smiling at the others Tonks steered her daughter to the far end of the room, leaving her youngest still in Remus' arms.

James and Lily once again watched their son and his family. The shy boy was watching them again and when he caught their gaze he began tugging on his father's sleeve. His father looked at him inquisitively and the boy pointed at the adults. Before he could follow the boy's pointed finger, Tonks reached them. Harry stood up and Tonks leaned forward and said something to him quietly holding a hand out to the shy boy who took it after a moment. Harry tilted his head questioningly at her but she merely smiled at him as she pulled the two children from the room.

Remus had begun moving through the room, waving his wand as he went causing furniture to right itself and broken china to repair and stack neatly on a bench as food spills vanished. The house elf reappeared now that all was quiet, and regarded Remus silently.


	4. Chapter 4

Earlier September 1st, upstairs:

"I don't suppose we have any stomach settling potion, do we?" she asked breathlessly, her arms wrapped around her middle.

"Not any that's safe for you right now," Harry responded concerned. He ran a hand across her clammy forehead, brushing a lock of her hair back. Feeling another wave of nausea coming on Ginny leaned forward over the cauldron again, and Harry moved an arm around her front, holding her up while the other resumed rubbing soothing circles into her back.

"We could ask your mother?" Harry suggested as her body shuddered in his. She shook her no, not able to speak, and pressed her body further into him.

He tightened his grip on her as her body heaved again, though by this point not much was coming up.

It continued for another ten minutes, the dry heaves wracking her body as she struggled for breath.

It pained Harry that he could do no more for her than hold her.

"Do you want to try the stuff we have for the kids?" Harry asked her when it finally stopped and she leaned her head against his chest and closed her eyes. Again, she shook her head.

Harry placed a kiss to her temple, "Do you feel up to moving? You'd be more comfortable in bed," he said softly. "I can carry you or levitate you if that will help."

"Horizontal is a bad idea," she muttered, eyes still closed. "I can stand if you help me."

Harry moved so he was kneeling beside her and once again wrapped one arm in front of her under her elbows and one behind her around her waist. He waited for her to be ready, and it wasn't long before she made to stand. Supporting as much of her weight as he could Harry helped her up, halting his movements when she gasped quietly, an arm wrapping around her stomach again.

"Ginny?" he asked her, "What's happening?"

"Hurts," she muttered, mouth clamped shut.

"Should we go to St Mungo's?" he asked her, not liking this.

She shook her head, "I think it's just from all the throwing up," she said. "Can we go to the bed now?" she asked, barely moving her lips. He nodded and began leading her from the bathroom, one arm around her waist, the other arm holding the cauldron by his side. They moved slowly so as not to cause her any more pain, and halfway there she stopped bringing a hand up to her mouth. As she did, Harry brought the cauldron up in front of her as her body tried again to rid itself of that which wasn't there. Nothing came up and by the time it passed, her knees were threatening to give out as she leaned more heavily against him.

Dropping the cauldron Harry bent down and lifted her into his arms before crossing the room to the bed where he placed her down gently, supporting her back while he arranged pillows for her to lean on. Once she was settled he waved his wand and summoned the cauldron to them.

He waved it again and a book sailed from the drawing room downstairs through the house to where they sat. Opening it Harry flicked through the pages quickly, searching.

It wasn't long before he found what he was looking for.

"It doesn't take long to make, but I know we don't have all of these ingredients," he told her softly. "I'll go past an apothecary on the way back from the station, and I'll make it for you before I go to work." She nodded weakly, holding a hand out to him.

He took it, moving to sit beside her and her head came to rest against his chest again.

"Are we okay?" she asked him.

He raised his eyebrows, surprised that she could think they weren't, as he tucked a finger under her chin and turned her head to face him.

"Of course, we are," he said, planting a kiss on her lips which she quickly pulled away from self-consciously.

"But we didn't plan it," Ginny whispered. "We didn't plan on having another."

"So, it's a surprise," he responded, "but it's in no way an unwelcome one. Not for me at least," he smiled at her.

She smiled back at him, "Me either," she said softly.

"Whatever happens," he began, "we're in this together."

She nodded against him, her head leaning against him again.

"You don't have to worry about work either," Harry told her. "Take as much time off as you need."

"I think I want to resign," she told him quietly.

"We can do whatever you want, but are you sure about that?"

"I'm just so tired, and honestly I think I'm just done with Quidditch," she responded as she took a deep breath. "I don't know what I'll do instead," she closed her eyes as she leaned against him.

"Take as long as you want to figure that out," Harry told her, placing a kiss on top of her head, "there's no rush, alright?"

She nodded but didn't answer him.

"How long can we stay here before the kids notice?" she asked quietly, a slight hitch in her voice. She wasn't ready to move but she knew they'd been awhile.

"As long as you need to," Harry replied, kissing the top of her head again.

She could feel her eyes burning and tried to shut it down as she turned her head into his body. It didn't work though and she still felt tears begin to leak a moment later.

He felt her body shudder slightly in his arms before he felt the wet patch forming against him.

"Hey," he said softly, holding her tightly, "what's wrong?" she didn't respond, just shook her head slightly and pressed her face against him more.

"Gin?" he tried again, "I thought we just established we're happy about this? Or is it you're still feeling sick?"

She nodded, "I am happy, and I don't feel that sick now," she mumbled against him, hating this part. "Just tired."

"So why are you crying?" he asked her, stroking her back.

"I don't know," she moaned softly, "I can't stop," her voice broke as she said it, and she balled her hands up in his shirt.

"It's okay," he told her, "you don't have to stop. And I'm not going anywhere," he assured her, squeezing her softly. Her hands relaxed against him and she nodded.

He continued to hold her for some time, alternating between stroking her back and running his hands through her hair softly. Eventually her body stopped shaking, but still he held her, knowing she wasn't ready for him to let go yet.

A few minutes later she turned her head so her face was no longer buried against him. She patted his stomach briefly, letting him know she was ok as she took a deep breath.

"You don't have to come to the train if you're not up to it," he told her, stroking her hair again.

"No, I want to be there. I just want to stay here another minute and then we can go downstairs and round up the children."

"Remus should be here soon," Harry told her as she nodded, looking at his watch. "If he's not already. So should Ron and Tonks in about an hour." She nodded. "I'm sure Sirius will surface at some point."

They heard running footsteps coming up the stairs, followed by their son's voice. "Dad?" the voice called and Ginny sat up quickly, now supporting her own wait.

Moments later the bedroom door was flung open as their youngest son ran in, followed by a rocket shaped firecracker that zoomed around the room gleefully.

"James set Lily's hair on fire," Albus told them quickly as he grabbed his mother's hand and pulled her towards the door.

She rose quickly, Harry right beside her should she fall. She didn't, so they let their son lead them down two flights of stairs. He was still clutching her hand tightly in his.


End file.
